I have not been so bereft since Mark Markson moved to Florida when I was fourteen. It was MEANT TO BE; and then I never saw him again.

It would seem that all life’s crushing blows come in the same format.

However. It turns out that ALSO, just like life’s crushing blows: if you can look past the fog of disappointment and certainty that you will never recover, you might learn something valuable.

Do you see it? Look past the urns… that’s a campaign bed.

After being on the losing end of mortal combat against silent assailant, I was left frantically covetous for a pair of medium-sized antique garden urns.

In the ensuing months of bitter urn-regret, I kicked up my search-terms on craigslist.

Eventually I found these urns and the urn troll was pacified… They weren’t really big enough. But they resolved the mania; plus I was tired of searching every combination of iron/garden/planter.

Weirdly, I never searched for a campaign bed… why? I don’t know. It’s useless and fancy, so I should have been all over that.

I don’t even remember what this pair sold for at auction, although apparently I liked them enough to take a photo.

Fast forward to now… I haven’t even been looking on Craigslist. Which is sacrilege and alarming, and the extent of my inertia and cement brain; and also to do with acquisition of Cleveland Bookcase/having everything I ever wanted.

But I got on Craigslist on Saturday, because Paul and I have been talking about buying a large chest freezer for kale armageddon… and I refuse to pay money for something boring and unfancy if I can get it on Craigslist for free.

I’m positive that you understand my strategic financial planning, but it was too sophisticated for Paul, who was saying something about killowats per hour.

Then he revised his original pitch for improved energy efficiency by pointing out that a free freezer on Craigslist has likely held either Bambi’s murdered mother, or a dismembered human body… possibly both.

At which point I was like— you know what? You are right. Let’s buy a new one… and clicked over to antiques.

Then I did that thing where you squint at the computer screen. Because logically you know that what you think you are seeing cannot be what you are ACTUALLY seeing because there is only one photo in the listing and it somehow provides no clarity at all.

If you Google “campaign furniture” your results will mostly show you results from the British officer class. Reproductions of British campaign furniture are plentiful… but not really my style.

furniture designed expressly to approximate all the refinement of a proper British household inside the canvas tents of ranking officers afar, but also to break down and fold up fast for easy, compact transport (hence campaign furniture’s other appellation, “knock-down” furniture). — Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914

My bed is probably French. It’s iron. And HEAVY. Because I guess the French were like – we COULD make our camp furniture lightweight and portable, OR we could make it giant, fancy, unwieldy, and heavy as hell.

If you had asked me a year ago – if I thought that the thoughts/love/prayers/whatever you want to call it/of strangers on the internet would impact the lifespan of my most precious animal, I would have given you a very strange look.

But I am completely convinced that the reason she is still hanging out is because of this very thing. So, thank you. xoxo.

Her eating has gone further downhill… but she seems comfortable and still herself. She still enjoys a petting-induced coma, and sitting out on the front porch with us, so I’m just trying to enjoy this time… the in-home vet reminded me this is Elvis’s timeline to complete as she sees fit, and it is outside of my control.

I plan to hire him to advise me on all aspects of life, because he is very wise.

WOW! I NEVER find stuff like that. I could go around this whole big state and not find stuff like that. You truly are the queen of craigslist. So jealous! Those are gorgeous pieces! WOW and what amazing prices. Congrats!

Elvis is clearly a woman of her own mind! And I support the idea of keeping the in-home vet as a life consultant. My sense of the world is that persons who really “get” our animals are indeed sages among us.

Continued good thoughts and prayers coming your way! I always look forward to reading about the NEXT great adventure! Hugs to you!

As a person who daily performs the calculus of coveting (if I save us 50 euros on boring stuff I can blow 75 euros on bullion trim) I am super impressed by your bed troll. It clearly operates as a psychic advance scout, and was alerted to the proximity of bed score. What an incredible thing to find, and I am so glad you get/have to own it! Thanks for sharing it and lots of love to Elvis.

Hooray for Elvis and what a score on the bed! I did that with an Elliot (did not know what it was at the time) gorgeous cream wrought iron bed for $175. Sold it for $300-400 when we were talking about downsizing. Not something I would do again, loved it. But, life moves on and we only have a 2 bedroom condo now with a huge built in Murphy bed in the guest room, so no could use!!! Love you and your site.

Oh my! I loved this post”I love all of them” but this one! Wow! I must admit to a wee bout of jealously. A stunning bed! There is a great book called ” British campaign furniture” that covers campaign beds and other wonderful things we need! Cheers!

I looked at this campaign bed last week on ebay and lusted after it. The price was out of my range. I want this for my screened in porch to have a place to nap. I was a cat in a previous life. This would have been a perfect addition to my Victorian home. I am bereft but happy that you found one SO CHEAP and we always want our friends to be hapoy and score big!

I have a beautiful 20-YO kitty girl, Blossom, who just went on a road trip with me, a friend and 3 of my dogs. I’m sure it wasn’t on HER bucket list, but the trip was necessary and at her age (even though she seems to be enjoying wonderful good health) I wasn’t about to leave her ANYWHERE! If I could take her with me to the grocery store, I would. Amazingly, she complained the first five minutes, then snuggled down and went to sleep. Critters are amazing. Hang in there, Elvis. Maybe you’ll get a trip to the beach!